


One More Year

by Vivien



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Sisters
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-06
Updated: 2013-09-06
Packaged: 2017-12-25 18:45:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/956447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vivien/pseuds/Vivien
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sixteen-year-old Andromeda Black knows she will have to make hard choices soon.</p>
            </blockquote>





	One More Year

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Alasse_Irena](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alasse_Irena/gifts).



Andromeda smoothed down the front of her plaid miniskirt, staring at her legs in the mirror. They were good legs, she thought. Why in Merlin’s name she had to keep them covered with robes, she didn’t know. 

She did know, actually. Miniskirts were Muggle fashion. Such filth was not allowed in the Noble House of Black. 

She snorted. If only Ted could see her in this. It was going to be a long and tedious summer, and the thought of having little contact with Ted Tonks the whole time made her twitch. She straightened the collar of the white eyelet blouse. She felt free in these clothes, like she could fly a million miles away and then run a million miles more.

There was a knock on the door. Andromeda grabbed her robes from the bed and flung them over her head. “One moment,” she called out.

She was lucky. It was either Cissy or Mother. Bella never knocked, and she’d have gone spare had she barged in and seen Andromeda in front of the mirror just now.

Narcissa opened the door a few inches and peeked in, one blue eye showing. “‘Meda, we have to go to the sitting room. Mother has news.”

Andromeda sighed. “Coming, Cissy,” she said, walking to the door, her Muggle outfit hidden under the yellow, old-fashioned robes. She took her little sister’s hand, something she never dared do at Hogwarts. Narcissa’s first year at school was nearly five years ago now, and she was quite grown up. Or so she insisted whenever she was teased.

Bella was already in the sitting room, looking smug and sleek in black as she stood by the window, looking out over the gardens. Their mother sat in her usual armchair, which was not unlike a throne from Muggle histories. She was clutching a roll of parchment, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

“Sit, girls, sit. Or stand,” Druella Black said, nodding at her eldest daughter. “I have the most wonderful news.” She took a deep breath as the girls settled themselves.

“The Lestranges have accepted our dowry offer, and Bellatrix and Rodolphus shall be married.”

“Soon,” Bellatrix added. Her arms crossed in front of her chest belied her triumphant expression. 

Andromeda’s face knew what to do, even if her brain was struggling for the right words. She smiled and tried to look delighted. She knew Bellatrix wanted to be married, but she knew that her sister wanted something else more. She’d have to serve the Dark Lord by bringing forth more pureblood wizards instead of fulfilling the more ghastly daydreams she shared with her sisters. Andromeda thought that neither choice was a good one. She certainly didn’t want to be married right out of Hogwarts or follow the hideous Dark Lord.

Narcissa clapped her hands and beamed. “When can we shop for dresses? Will Madame Malkan make one, or shall we go to Paris?”

“I already know what dress I’ll wear,” Bella snapped, ignoring her littlest sister’s crestfallen expression. “I’m going to invite him to the wedding. Do you think he’ll come?”

Delia paled and fidgeted with the parchment. Andromeda knew exactly to whom her sister was referring. The thought of the Dark Lord attending her sister’s wedding twisted her stomach. She’d only seen him once, and that had been one time too many.

“I’m certain he’s much too busy for such frivolous occupations, Bellatrix,” Delia said, forcing a light tone. “Andromeda, you’re beginning your seventh year,” she continued, desperate for a distraction. “You ought to be considering whom you would prefer for a match.”

Bellatrix, ignoring the disappointment of her mother’s proclamation for the delight of making her sister squirm, said, “What about Rabastan? He’s got a lot going for him.”

Andromeda shot a quelling glance at her sister. “I’d rather marry a house elf. Rabastan is a brute, and he’s got spots.”

“Boys outgrow spots,” her mother reminded. “What about Lucius Malfoy? That would be quite a match.”

Andromeda glanced at Narcissa, who looked miserable. “Perhaps,” she said, “but I think not. His hair is longer than mine, and that's not what I'm looking for in a husband. ” She knew that her little sister had harbored a crush on Lucius from the moment she set eyes on him as an ickle first year.

“Well, not a Hufflepuff. I know you’re proud of your house, but honestly, Andromeda, you need to aim higher.”

“You need to pick a Slytherin,” said Bellatrix, her eyebrow arched.

“Or a Ravenclaw,” her mother added. “There are a few distant Rosier cousins there now, as I recall.”

“Mother, please, I don’t want to talk about this right now. I don’t even know if I want to get married.”

The Black females stared at her as if she’d grown two heads. 

“I mean to say, there’s time for that later. I want a proper career. I want to find a wizard I love to marry.”

Bellatrix sneered. “You’re talking like a Muggle, sister.”

“Bellatrix!”

“She is, Mother. There’s no sense denying it.”

Narcissa tugged at a lock of hair, twirling the strands tighter and tighter around her finger. Andromeda could see the tip of her finger turn purply-red.

“You’re upsetting Cissy,” she hissed at Bellatrix.

“You’re upsetting Cissy,” Bellatrix mocked back in a sing song voice. 

“Girls, that’s enough!” Their mother glowered at her older daughters. “Go to your rooms. Now. I’ve work to do, and your poor behavior is giving me a headache.”

Andromeda didn’t stay long enough to argue.

Once she was back in her room, she flung off her robe, revealing her Muggle clothes once again. She sat down at her desk and grabbed a piece of parchment from her drawer. She was halfway through an angry letter to her best friend, Octavia, the half-blood witch who’d provided Andromeda the outfit, when she heard another knock on her door.

“What?”

“It’s me. Again.” Cissy’s voice wavered.

Andromeda paused and slid the letter back into the drawer. Her family didn’t approve of her friendship with Octavia. Her family didn’t approve of anything about her. She decided against the robes, though. There was only so much she could hide in one day, and those robes were stifling over her outfit.

“Come in,” she said, “but close the door behind you.”

Narcissa did as she was told. She sat down on Andromeda’s bed, staring at her sister. “What are you wearing?”

“Something different. Like it?”

Narcissa frowned and didn’t answer. ‘Meda did and said strange things sometimes. Narcissa didn’t know why. It confused her, and sometimes, it made her cross. If Andromeda would just act like the rest of them, everyone would be happy. “Why don’t you want to get married like Bella?”

Andromeda didn't reply right away. “I want to be me first," she said, finally. "There’s so much to do, so much to see. I don’t want to start having babies straight away.”

“But we’re supposed to,” Narcissa said, still frowning. "Everyone says."

Andromeda shrugged. “I don’t care. What I’m supposed to do, what I’m not supposed to do… It’s all too much to keep up with.”

“I want to get married. I want to have babies like I’m supposed to.”

“Then you will, Cissy, and that will be fine for you. It’s not what I want, though.”

Narcissa stared at her a moment and then stood up. “I don’t want to be called Cissy any longer,” she said, a cold edge in her voice. “I’m Narcissa.”

Then she turned on heel and left the room.

Andromeda covered her eyes with her hand. She was used to Bellatrix's scorn. Narcissa and she had always been close, but more and more, things were coming between them. She was going to have to make more hard decisions, she knew, and she only had one more year to make them. She wouldn't be married straight out of school. She wouldn't deny herself the life she wanted. She wouldn't lose her friends because her family disapproved of them.

The choices ahead of her were frightening. Her friends looked forward to the future. Andromeda looked forward for stolen moments in front of a mirror and dreams of an uncomplicated future.

She changed out of the Muggle clothes, hiding them in the depths of her wardrobe. She put on the yellow robes once again. She looked round her room once, sighed, and then walked out into the hall. She'd knock on Narcissa's door, talk to her, and maybe they'd slip off to Diagon Alley for some ice cream. She only had one more year. If everything else turned upside down, she had that. 


End file.
